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Collection of Instruments

1. What is the timeline for realization of local and outstation cheques and compensation payable if there are delays in affording credit? +

Local Cheques

Local cheques are payable within the jurisdiction of the clearing house and will be presented through the clearing system prevailing at the centre. Credit arising out of local cheques shall be given to the customer’s account as indicated in the Cheque Collection Policy (CCP) of the concerned collecting bank.

Notwithstanding to the CCP of concerned collecting bank, ideally, in respect of local clearing, banks shall permit usage of the shadow credit afforded to the customers’ accounts immediately after closure of the relative return clearing on the next working day or maximum within an hour of commencement of business on the third working day from the day of presentation in clearing, subject to usual safeguards.

Under grid-based Cheque Truncation System (CTS) clearing, all cheques drawn on bank branches falling within in the grid jurisdiction are treated and cleared as local cheques. The grid clearing allows banks to present / receive cheques to/ from multiple cities to a single clearing house through their service branches in the grid location.

If there is any delay in credit, beyond the period specified above, customer is entitled to receive compensation at the rate specified in the CCP of the concerned collecting bank. In case, no rate is specified in the CCP for delay in realisation of local cheques, compensation at savings bank interest rate has to be paid for the corresponding period of delay.

Outstation Cheques

Maximum timeframe for collection of cheques drawn on state capitals / major cities / other locations are 7/10/14 days respectively.

If there is any delay in collection beyond this period, customer is entitled to receive compensation at the rate specified in the CCP of the concerned bank. In case the rate is not specified in the CCP, interest rate on Fixed Deposits for the corresponding maturity to be paid. Banks' cheque collection policy also indicates the limit up to which outstation cheques are given immediate / instant credit.

One of the services rendered by banks as part of their normal banking operations is collection of cheques deposited by their customers, some of which, could also be drawn or payable on banks that are outside the country. Such cheques are called foreign currency cheques and, presently, a significant part of these cheques are US-Dollar denominated payable by banks in the United States of America.

In the interest of better public awareness, the following FAQs have been prepared for cheques denominated in US-Dollars.

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1. I have received a cheque denominated in US Dollars. How does such a cheque differ from the usual Rupee cheques as an instrument of payment? +

Cheques denominated in currencies other than Indian Rupees such as Euro (€), Pound Sterling (£), US Dollar ($), Yen (¥), etc., are called foreign currency cheques. Foreign currency cheques include demand drafts, personal cheques, banker’s cheques, cashier’s cheques, traveller’s cheques, etc. Since such cheques are not payable in India they are, therefore, required to be sent to the country concerned for realization of proceeds.

1. Who can undertake remittance transactions between India and Singapore through the UPI-PayNow linkage? +

Account-holders of the participating banks and financial institutions in India and Singapore can do the cross-border remittance transactions through the UPI-PayNow linkage.

1. How will the daily changes in the inflation adjusted principal be accounted for, regarding MTM, Interest, Book Value

Ans: The valuation criteria as specified for HTM, AFS and HFT would apply.

Valuation (para nos. given are from our MC on investments)

3.1 Held to Maturity

i) Investments classified under HTM need not be marked to market and will be carried at acquisition cost, unless it is more than the face value, in which case the premium should be amortised over the period remaining to maturity. The banks should reflect the amortised amount in 'Schedule 13 - Interest Earned: Item II - Income on Investments', as a deduction. However, the deduction need not be disclosed separately. The book value of the security should continue to be reduced to the extent of the amount amortised during the relevant accounting period.

In the case of IIBs, face value will mean the inflation adjusted principal.

3.2 Available for Sale

The individual scrips in the Available for Sale category will be marked to market at quarterly or at more frequent intervals. Domestic Securities under this category shall be valued scrip-wise and depreciation / appreciation shall be aggregated for each classification referred to in item 2(i) above and foreign investments under this category shall be valued scrip-wise and depreciation / appreciation shall be aggregated for five classifications (viz. Government securities (including local authorities), Shares, Debentures & Bonds, Subsidiaries and / or joint ventures abroad and Other investments (to be specified)). Further, the investment in a particular classification, both in domestic and foreign securities, may be aggregated for the purpose of arriving at net depreciation / appreciation of investments under that category. Net depreciation, if any, shall be provided for Net appreciation, if any, should be ignored. Net depreciation required to be provided for in any one classification should not be reduced on account of net appreciation in any other classification. The banks may continue to report the foreign securities under three categories (Government securities (including local authorities), Subsidiaries and / or joint ventures abroad and other investments (to be specified)) in the balance sheet. The book value of the individual securities would not undergo any change after the marking of market.

3.3 Held for Trading

The individual scrips in the Held for Trading category will be marked to market at monthly or at more frequent intervals and provided for as in the case of those in the Available for Sale category. Consequently, the book value of the individual securities in this category would also not undergo any change after marking to market.

FIMMDA has informed that the price quoted in the market will be the real price and consideration for purchase and sale of the bond will be ((“Real Price x Index Ratio” which is clean price) + (Accrued Interest which is the Broken Period Interest). As per para 5.2 of the Master Circular on Classification, Valuation and Investment Portfolio by banks, broken period interest should not be capitalized but treated as an item of expenditure. In order to be consistent with present valuation norms, only clean price may be considered as acquisition cost.

As regards the mark to market value, in the case of IIBs it is the quoted clean price if available. If it is unquoted, FIMMDA’s valuation methodology for arriving at the clean price as above should be followed.

However, regarding broken period interest, banks would have to be guided by what is indicated in para 5.2 of MC on investments:

5.2 Broken Period Interest

Banks should not capitalise the Broken Period Interest paid to seller as part of cost, but treat it as an item of expenditure under Profit and Loss Account in respect of investments in Government and other approved securities. It is to be noted that the above accounting treatment does not take into account taxation implications and hence the banks should comply with the requirements of Income Tax Authorities in the manner prescribed by them.

In case it falls under unquoted SLR security, FIMMDA’s valuation methodology for arriving at the clean price should be followed.

In providing the clarifications, an attempt has been made to assist potential applicants in understanding the terms of the guidelines. The clarifications are specific to the queries and must be read in the overall context of the guidelines.

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Q.1. Is it compulsory for the NOFHC to have individuals as promoters? +

It is not necessary that individual alongwith his related parties have shareholding in the NOFHC. However, if any individual belonging to the Promoter Group chooses to become a promoter of the NOFHC, he along with his relatives (as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act 1956) and along with entities in which he and / or his relatives hold not less than 50 per cent of the voting equity shares can hold voting equity shares not exceeding 10 per cent of the total voting equity shares of the NOFHC. [para 2 ( C ) (ii) (a) of the guidelines]

1. What is RBI's role with regard to conduct of Government's banking transaction? +

In terms of Section 20 of the RBI Act 1934, RBI has the obligation to undertake the receipts and payments of the Central Government and to carry out the exchange, remittance and other banking operations, including the management of the public debt of the Union. Further, as per Section 21 of the said Act, RBI has the right to transact Government business of the Union in India.

State Government transactions are carried out by RBI in terms of the agreement entered into with the State Governments in terms of section 21 A of the Act. As of now, such agreements exist between RBI and all the State Governments except Government of Sikkim. Thus, the legal provisions vest Reserve Bank of India with both the right and obligation to function as banker to the government.

To encourage retail participation in the primary market for Government Securities, the facility of non-competitive bidding in Dated Government Securities and Treasury Bills auctions has been introduced. This will enable the investor to purchase a specified number of securities at the weighted average rate of the accepted competitive bids.

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1. Who can participate in the Scheme? +

Participation in the Scheme of non-competitive bidding is open to retail investors. Retail investor is any person including individuals, firms, companies, corporate bodies, institutions, provident funds, trusts and any other entity as prescribed by RBI.

Automated Data Flow (ADF) from banks to Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India has placed on its website an Approach Paper describing the goals and objectives of Automated Data Flow (ADF) and advised the banks to implement Automated Data Flow. The approach paper can be accessed through the link Home >> Press Releases >> November 11, 2010. Banks have been individually seeking clarification from RBI officials on ADF. Consolidated questions and responses are presented as FAQs on ADF.

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1. WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND FOR ADF? +

In several of its functions, Reserve Bank of India relies on data submitted by banks and quality of data is of great importance. In order to meet the need for correct and consistent data, the Reserve Bank of India has initiated the project on Automated Data Flow (ADF).

1. What is an EEFC Account and what are its benefits? +

Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency Account (EEFC) is an account maintained in foreign currency with an Authorised Dealer Category - I bank i.e. a bank authorized to deal in foreign exchange. It is a facility provided to the foreign exchange earners, including exporters, to credit 100 per cent of their foreign exchange earnings to the account, so that the account holders do not have to convert foreign exchange into Rupees and vice versa, thereby minimizing the transaction costs.

1. Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) were issued in the name of Capital Indexed Bonds (CIBs) during 1997. How is the new product of IIBs different from earlier CIBs? +

The CIBs issued in 1997 provided inflation protection only to principal and not to interest payment.
New product of IIBs will provide inflation protection to both principal and interest payments.

Q1. What is an Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF)? +

Ans : IDFs are investment vehicles which can be sponsored by commercial banks and NBFCs in India in which domestic/offshore institutional investors, specially insurance and pension funds can invest through units and bonds issued by the IDFs. IDFs would essentially act as vehicles for refinancing existing debt of infrastructure companies, thereby creating fresh headroom for banks to lend to fresh infrastructure projects. IDF-NBFCs would take over loans extended to infrastructure projects which are created through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) route and have successfully completed one year of commercial production. Such take-over of loans from banks would be covered by a Tripartite Agreement between the IDF, Concessionaire and the Project Authority for ensuring a compulsory buyout with termination payment in the event of default in repayment by the Concessionaire.

1. Should an AD bank obtain a valid LEI for transactions less than INR 50 crore even if the customer has not done any transaction of INR 50 crore or above on or after October 1, 2022? +

Ans. An AD bank must record valid LEI for cross border transactions of INR 50 crore and more undertaken through it on or after October 01, 2022. Post this, the AD bank must report the valid LEI for all cross border transactions, irrespective of the value of the transactions. However, if the AD bank already has a valid LEI of the entity, it must report it for all transactions irrespective of whether the entity has undertaken a transaction of INR 50 crore or above through it.

1. The guidelines specify that MCLR calculated using methodology prescribed shall correspond to the tenor of funds in the single largest maturity bucket provided it is more than 30% of the entire funds reckoned for determining the MCLR. But my bank does not have a single time bucket which has more than 30% share of the funds reckoned for MCLR. In such a case, the MCLR calculated as per the methodology indicated shall correspond to which tenor? +

Let’s assume a bank has following maturity profile of borrowings:

Sr. No.	Original Maturity	Balance outstanding as a percentage of total funds (other than equity)	Cumulative weightage
1	5 years & above	15.1%	15.1%
2	3 years & above but less than 5 years	11.8%	26.9%
3	2 years & above but less than 3 years	9.3%	36.2%
4	1 year & above but less than 2 years	16.9%	53.1%
5	6 months & above but less than 1 year	24.3%	77.4%
6	91 days & above but less than 6 months	10.5%	87.9%
7	Up to 90 days	12.1%	100%
	Total	100%

In this case, the MCLR shall correspond to the weighted average of tenor of the first three time buckets.

Frequently Asked Questions on Partial Credit Guarantee offered by Government of India (GoI) to Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for purchasing high-rated pooled assets from financially sound Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) / Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) – vide its notification dated August 10, 2019

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1. Whether the Partial Credit Guarantee (PCG) Scheme of Government of India covers Securitisation transactions and / or Transactions involving Transfer of Assets through Direct Assignment ? +

The scheme is applicable for the transactions involving transfer of Assets through Direct Assignment.

1. Which banks are insured by the DICGC ? +

Commercial Banks : All commercial banks including branches of foreign banks functioning in India, local area banks and regional rural banks are insured by the DICGC.

Cooperative Banks : All State, Central and Primary cooperative banks, also called urban cooperative banks, functioning in States / Union Territories which have amended the local Cooperative Societies Act empowering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to order the Registrar of Cooperative Societies of the State / Union Territory to wind up a cooperative bank or to supersede its committee of management and requiring the Registrar not to take any action regarding winding up, amalgamation or reconstruction of a co-operative bank without prior sanction in writing from the RBI are covered under the Deposit Insurance Scheme. At present all co-operative banks are covered by the DICGC.

Primary cooperative societies are not insured by the DICGC.

The Reserve Bank of India issued a directive vide circular DPSS.CO.OD.No 2785/06.08.005/2017-18 dated April 06, 2018 on ‘Storage of Payment System Data’ advising all system providers to ensure that, within a period of six months, the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in India.

Payment System Operators (PSOs) have sought clarification on certain implementation issues, from time to time, from Reserve Bank. The FAQs are intended to provide clarity on those issues to facilitate and ensure expeditious compliance by all PSOs.

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1. Applicability of the direction +

The directions are applicable to all Payment System providers authorised / approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up and operate a payment system in India under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
Banks function as operators of a payment system or as participant in a payment system. They are participants in (i) payment systems operated by RBI viz., RTGS and NEFT, (ii) systems operated by CCIL and NPCI, and (iii) in card schemes. The directions are, therefore, applicable to all banks operating in India.
The directions are also applicable in respect of the transactions through system participants, service providers, intermediaries, payment gateways, third party vendors and other entities (by whatever name referred to) in the payments ecosystem, who are retained or engaged by the authorised / approved entities for providing payment services.
The responsibility to ensure compliance with the provisions of these directions would be on the authorised / approved PSOs to ensure that such data is stored only in India as required under the above directions.

1. Does QA 22 Account continue under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999? +

No. With the introduction of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, the accounts opened by foreign nationals who are resident in India are treated as resident accounts. Such accounts are at par with other resident Rupee accounts.

Sr.No.1 What is the meaning of the word ‘person’ mentioned at para 4(1)(iv) of the NBFC-P2P Directions, 2017? Would it also include banks/NBFCs? +

Ans: For the purposes of para 4(iv) of the Directions, the term ’person’ shall include an individual, a body of individuals, a HUF, a firm, a society or any artificial body, whether incorporated or not.

Q.1. What is Factoring ? +

The Factoring Act, 2011 defines the ‘Factoring Business’ as “the business of acquisition of receivables of assignor by accepting assignment of such receivables or financing, whether by way of making loans or advances or in any other manner against the security interest over any receivables”. However, credit facilities provided by banks in the ordinary course of business against security of receivables and any activity undertaken as a commission agent or otherwise for sale of agricultural produce or goods of any kind whatsoever and related activities are expressly excluded from the definition of Factoring Business. The Factoring Act has laid the basic legal framework for factoring in India.

1. As per Para 2.1, the compliance function is expected to ensure compliance to all applicable statutory provisions, apart from other rules, regulations and code of conducts. As different groups/departments in the banks are responsible to ensure compliance to different statutory requirements, what would be the exact expectations from the compliance functions? +

Banks need to ensure compliance to all applicable statutory provisions, rules and regulations, various codes of conducts (including the voluntary ones) and their own internal rules, policies and procedures. It is, however, reiterated that compliance is a shared responsibility of the business units and the compliance function. Therefore, adherence to applicable statutory provisions and regulations needs to be the responsibility of each staff member of the bank and it is the work of the compliance function to ensure the same.

In some banks, there may be separate departments looking after compliance to different statutory and other requirements while the compliance function may be responsible for monitoring compliance with the regulations, internal policies and procedures and reporting to Management. The concerned departments would hold the prime responsibility for their respective areas, which should be clearly outlined, while compliance function would need to ensure overall oversight. If serious gaps are observed in such compliances, the compliance function should take necessary action to correct the compliance culture. There should also be appropriate mechanisms for co-operation among departments and with the Chief Compliance Officer.

1. What is Cheque Truncation? +

Truncation is the process of stopping the flow of the physical cheque issued by a drawer at some point by the presenting bank en-route to the paying bank branch. In its place an electronic image of the cheque is transmitted to the paying branch through the clearing house, along with relevant information like data on the MICR band, date of presentation, presenting bank, etc. Cheque truncation thus obviates the need to move the physical instruments across bank branches, other than in exceptional circumstances for clearing purposes. This effectively eliminates the associated cost of movement of the physical cheques, reduces the time required for their collection and brings elegance to the entire activity of cheque processing.

1. In Paragraph 4 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework, it is stated that the reference date for the outstanding amount of debt that may be considered for resolution shall be March 1, 2020. Does this mean that only debt outstanding as on March 1, 2020 can be resolved under the Resolution Framework? +

The stipulation at Paragraph 4 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework is a general clause regarding the date on which the eligibility criteria for resolution under the Resolution Framework may be assessed. The specific application of the reference date with respect to deciding the eligibility of accounts for resolution under Part A and Part B of the Annex to the Resolution Framework have been separately specified in Paragraphs 6 and 13 respectively, i.e, the requirement that the borrowers should be classified as standard, but not in default for more than 30 days with any lending institution as on March 1, 2020. The actual debt that may be considered for resolution will be the outstanding as on the date of invocation.

[Guidelines on Default Loss Guarantee in Digital Lending were issued vide Circular DOR.CRE.REC.21/21.07.001/2023-24 dated June 08, 2023]

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Q.1 As per Para 6 of the Guidelines on Default Loss Guarantee (DLG) in Digital Lending dated June 08, 2023, RE shall ensure that total amount of DLG cover on any outstanding portfolio which is specified upfront shall not exceed five per cent of the amount of that loan portfolio. How to ensure that the portfolio on which DLG has been given is specified upfront?

Ans: The portfolio over which DLG can be offered shall consist of identifiable and measurable loan assets which have been sanctioned (the ‘DLG set’). This portfolio will remain fixed for the purpose of DLG cover and is not meant to be dynamic. Kindly see illustrations at the end.

Q1. Who is an NRI ? +

Answer: A ‘Non-resident Indian’ (NRI) is a person resident outside India who is a citizen of India.

1. What is UDGAM portal?

ANS: UDGAM refers to Unclaimed Deposits-Gateway to Access inforMation, which is an online portal developed by RBI. It facilitates the registered users to search unclaimed deposits/accounts across multiple banks at one place in a centralised manner.

1. What should a customer do if a credit card is issued without his/her consent (unsolicited card)?

Response: Card issuers are prohibited from issuing unsolicited credit cards and are required to seek prior and explicit consent from the customer before issuing a card. However, if the customer receives an unsolicited card, he/she should refrain from activating or providing consent for activation of card through OTP or any other means. If no consent is received for activating the card, the card-issuer is required to close the credit card account without any cost to the customer within seven working days from the date of seeking confirmation from the customer and shall also intimate the customer that the credit card account has been closed. Subsequent to receiving the intimation from the card-issuer that the card account has been closed, the customer shall destroy the card. Further, the customer may file a complaint with the card-issuer against the issuance of unsolicited card and escalate it to the RBI Ombudsman as per Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (please refer to the response of query 17 below).

General Instructions

The Reserve Bank’s survey on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) of Mutual Fund (MF) companies and their Asset Management Companies (AMCs) in India is conducted annually. It collects the information from MF companies and AMCs on their external financial liabilities and assets as at end-March of the latest financial year (FY). The information collected from this survey are used in the compilation of India’s Balance of Payments (BoP), International Investment Position (IIP) and other related external sector statistics which provide comprehensive account of the country’s international financial transactions and exposures, in a globally comparable statistical framework.

Confidentiality Clause: The Reserve Bank releases the survey results only at the aggregate level and the institution-wise data furnished in the schedule are kept confidential.

Note: The respondent company should fill-up the survey schedule in excel format (*.xls format), which is available on RBI website. Respondents are requested to read the instruction sheet (available in survey schedule) carefully before filling the survey schedule.

Important Points: The respondent company should follow the below-mentioned points while filling and submitting the survey schedule:

(i) The company must use the latest survey schedule, which is in .xls format, without incorporating any macros.

(ii) The company is required to save the survey schedule in Excel 97-2003 workbook, i.e., in .xls format by following the below-mentioned steps:

Go to Office Button / File → Save As → Save As type
Select “Excel 97-2003 Workbook” and save the survey schedule in .xls format.

(iii) The company is requested not to incorporate any macro in the survey schedule while submitting the same.

(iv) Survey schedule submitted in any other format (other than .xls format) will be rejected by the system.

(v) Ensure that all information furnished in the survey schedule are complete and no information is missed out.

(vi) After filling sections I and II, the company has to fill the declaration sheet, which helps in validating that the information entered by the company are reconfirmed before submission to RBI. This helps to avoid data entry errors, missed data and other errors.

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1. In which month does RBI launch the MF survey ? +

Ans.: The RBI launches the MF survey during the month of June every year with previous financial year ended end-March as the reference date.

General Instructions

The Reserve Bank conducts the survey on Computer Software & Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) Exports annually. The survey collects information from software and ITES/BPO/LLPs exporting companies on their computer software and IT enabled services exports as at end-March of the latest Financial Year (FY).

The survey results are released in the public domain to raise the confidence of the international financial system in the country's economy besides being used for compilation of related external sector statistics which provide comprehensive account of the country’s international financial transactions and exposures, in a globally comparable statistical framework.

Confidentiality Clause: The company-wise information provided will be kept confidential and only consolidated aggregates will be released by the Reserve Bank.

Note: The respondent companies/LLPs/proprietorship firm should fill-up the survey schedule in excel format (*.xls format), which is available on RBI website. Respondents are requested to read the Instruction sheet (available in survey schedule) carefully before filling the survey schedule.

Important Points: The respondent companies/LLPs/proprietorship firm should follow the below-mentioned points for filling and submitting the survey schedule:

i. The company must use the latest survey schedule, which is in .xls format, without incorporating any macros.

ii. The company is required to save the survey schedule in Excel 97-2003 workbook, i.e., in .xls format by following the below-mentioned steps:

Go to Office Button / File → Save As → Save As type
Select “Excel 97-2003 Workbook” and Save the survey schedule in .xls format.

iii. The company is requested not to incorporate any macro in the survey schedule while submitting the same.

iv. Survey schedule submitted in any other format (other than .xls format) will be rejected by the system.

v. Ensure that all information furnished in the survey schedule are complete and no information is missed out.

vi. After filling Part - A to D, the company has to fill the declaration sheet, which helps in validating that the information entered by the company are reconfirmed before submission to RBI. This helps to avoid data entry errors, missed data and other errors.

vii. Respondents are requested to not use any special characters i.e., [!@#$%^&*_()] and comma while data filing in Question 3 to 9.

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1. In which month of the year, the ITES survey is launched by the RBI?

Ans.: The RBI launches the ITES survey during the month of June every year with the previous financial year end-March as the reference date.

Q.2. Who can apply for compounding? +

Ans. Any person who contravenes any provision of the FEMA, 1999 [except section 3(a)] or contravenes any rule, regulation, notification, direction or order issued in exercise of the powers under this Act or contravenes any condition subject to which an authorization is issued by the Reserve Bank, can apply for compounding to the Reserve Bank. Applications seeking compounding of contraventions under section 3(a) of FEMA, 1999 may be submitted to the Directorate of Enforcement (DOE).

2. What is the frequency of this survey ? +

Ans.: The survey is conducted annually.

2. Whether banks can pay interest on savings bank accounts quarterly ? +

Banks can pay interest on savings bank accounts at quarterly or longer rests.

2. What is non-competitive bidding for dated Government securities ? +

Non-competitive bidding means the bidder would be able to participate in the auctions of dated government securities without having to quote the yield or price in the bid. Thus, he will not have to worry about whether his bid will be on or off-the-mark; as long as he bids in accordance with the scheme, he will be allotted securities fully or partially.

2. Who is a Banking Ombudsman ? +

The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services covered under the grounds of complaint specified under Clause 8 of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006 (As amended upto July 1, 2017).

2. What are the variants of ECS? In what way are they different from each other? +

Primarily, there are two variants of ECS - ECS Credit and ECS Debit. ECS Credit is used by an institution for affording credit to a large number of beneficiaries (for instance, employees, investors etc.) having accounts with bank branches at various locations within the jurisdiction of a ECS Centre by raising a single debit to the bank account of the user institution. ECS Credit enables payment of amounts towards distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension, etc., of the user institution. ECS Debit is used by an institution for raising debits to a large number of accounts (for instance, consumers of utility services, borrowers, investors in mutual funds etc.) maintained with bank branches at various locations within the jurisdiction of a ECS Centre for single credit to the bank account of the user institution. ECS Debit is useful for payment of telephone / electricity / water bills, cess / tax collections, loan installment repayments, periodic investments in mutual funds, insurance premium etc., that are periodic or repetitive in nature and payable to the user institution by large number of customers etc.

2. Will non-competitive bidding be allowed in all auctions? +

The availability of non-competitive bidding facility in an auction will be announced along with the respective press release and the information is made available on Reserve Bank’s website.

2. How does Reserve Bank of India discharge its statutory obligation of being 'Banker to Government'? +

RBI carries out the general banking business of the governments through its own offices and commercial banks, both public and private, appointed as its agents. Section 45 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, provides for appointment of scheduled commercial banks as agents at all places or at any place in India, for purposes that it may specify, “having regard to public interest, convenience of banking, banking development and such other factors which in its opinion are relevant in this regard”.

Reserve Bank of India maintains the Principal Accounts of Central as well as State Governments at its Central Accounts Section, Nagpur. It has put in place a well-structured arrangement for revenue collection as well as payments on behalf of Government across the country. A network comprising the Government Banking Divisions of RBI and branches of agency banks appointed under Section 45 of the RBI Act carry out the government transactions. At present all the public sector banks and select private sector banks act as RBI's agents. Only designated branches of agency banks can conduct government banking business.

Q 2. Who are authorized by the Reserve Bank to sell foreign exchange for travel purposes? +

Ans. Foreign exchange can be purchased from any authorised person, such as an AD Category-I bank and AD Category II. Full-Fledged Money Changers (FFMCs) are also permitted to release exchange for business and private visits.

2. What is the objective behind allowing FFMCs to do business? +

To widen the access of foreign exchange facilities to residents and tourists while ensuring efficient customer service through competition.

2. What are the advantages of using NEFT system? +

Ans: NEFT offers the following advantages for funds transfer or receipt:

Round the clock availability on all days of the year.
Near-real-time funds transfer to the beneficiary account and settlement in a secure manner.
Pan-India coverage through large network of branches of all types of banks.
The beneficiary need not visit a bank branch for depositing the paper instruments. Remitter can initiate the remittances from his / her home / place of work using internet banking, if his / her bank offers such service.
Positive confirmation to the remitter by SMS / e-mail on credit to beneficiary account.
Penal interest provision for delay in credit or return of transactions.
No levy of charges by RBI from banks.
No charges to savings bank account customers for online NEFT transactions.
The transaction charges have been capped by RBI.
Besides funds transfer, NEFT system can be used for a variety of transactions including payment of credit card dues to the card issuing banks, payment of loan EMI, inward foreign exchange remittances, etc.
The transaction has legal backing.
Available for one-way funds transfers from India to Nepal.

Q2. Who is a PIO ? +

Answer: A ‘Person of Indian Origin (PIO)’ is a person resident outside India who is a citizen of any country other than Bangladesh or Pakistan or such other country as may be specified by the Central Government, satisfying the following conditions:

Who was a citizen of India by virtue of the Constitution of India or the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955); or
Who belonged to a territory that became part of India after the 15th day of August, 1947; or
Who is a child or a grandchild or a great grandchild of a citizen of India or of a person referred to in clause (a) or (b); or
Who is a spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of a person referred to in clause (a) or (b) or (c)

A PIO will include an ‘Overseas Citizen of India’ cardholder within the meaning of Section 7(A) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. Such an OCI Card holder should also be a person resident outside India.

Q.2: On which amount will the cap of five per cent be calculated?

Ans: The cap is applicable on the total amount disbursed out of the DLG set at any given time (read with answer to Q.1 above). Kindly see illustrations at the end.

2. What are the salient features of INRF Scheme? How much money can I remit under INRF? +

Ans: One can remit upto ₹2 lakhs per transaction to the beneficiary residing in Nepal; provided the sender maintains account with any NEFT enabled bank branch in India.

Walk-in / Non-customer can remit upto ₹50,000 per transaction to Nepal residing beneficiary.

2. Is it mandatory to obtain and validate the LEI of the non-resident counterparty as well? Does the stipulation of reporting LEI for all transactions of an entity, irrespective of transaction size, once the entity has obtained an LEI number apply for non-residents as well? +

Ans. As regards the non-resident counterparty/ overseas entities, AD bank may be guided by the instructions contained in paragraph 2 of the circular.

2. Briefly explain the entire process flow in Cheque Truncation System (CTS). +

In CTS, the presenting bank (or its branch) captures the data (on the MICR band) and the images of a cheque using their Capture System (comprising of a scanner, core banking or other application) which is internal to them and meeting the specifications and standards prescribed for data and images under CTS.

To ensure security, safety and non-repudiation of data / images, end-to-end Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) has been implemented in CTS. As part of the requirement, the collecting bank (presenting bank) sends the data and captured images duly signed digitally and encrypted to the central processing location (Clearing House) for onward transmission to the paying bank (destination or drawee bank). For participating in the clearing process under CTS, the presenting and paying banks use either the Clearing House Interface (CHI) or Data Exchange Module (DEM) that enables them to connect and transmit data and images in a secure and safe manner to the Centralised Clearing House (CCH).

The Clearing House processes the data, arrives at the settlement, and routes the images and requisite data to the paying banks. This is called presentation clearing. The paying banks through their CHI / DEM receive the images and data from the CCH for further processing.

The paying bank’s CHI / DEM also generates the return file for unpaid instruments, if any. The return file / data sent by the paying banks are processed by the Clearing House in the return clearing session in the same way as presentation clearing and return data is provided to the presenting banks for processing.

The clearing cycle is treated as complete once the presentation clearing and the associated return clearing sessions are successfully processed. The entire essence of CTS technology lies in the use of images of cheques (instead of the physical cheques) for payment processing.

2. What is the Government Securities Act, 2006? +

The Government Securities Act, 2006 (G S Act) is an Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to Government securities and its management by the RBI and for matters connected therewith.

2. What is de-tokenisation? +

Ans. Conversion of the token back to actual card details is known as de-tokenisation.

2. Are all the farm credit as listed in Paragraph 6.1 of Master Direction FIDD.CO.Plan.1/04.09.01/2016-17 dated July 7, 2016 (as updated) ineligible under the Resolution Framework? Are the JLG loans provided to farmer households by MFIs are eligible for resolution plan under the Resolution Framework?

All the farm credit exposures of all lending institutions, including NBFCs, of the nature listed in Paragraph 6.1 of Master Direction FIDD.CO.Plan.1/04.09.01/2016-17 dated July 7, 2016 (as updated), except for loans to allied activities, viz., dairy, fishery, animal husbandry, poultry, bee-keeping and sericulture are excluded from the scope of the Resolution Framework. Subject to the above, loans given to farmer households would be eligible for resolution under the Resolution Framework if they do not meet any other conditions for exclusions listed in the Resolution Framework.

2. Is there any limit on the amount of cash that can be withdrawn under this facility? +

Ans. Yes. Under this facility, a cardholder can withdraw cash up to ₹2,000 per transaction within an overall monthly limit of ₹10,000.

2. How many Ombudsman for Digital Transactions have been appointed and where are they located ? +

As on date, 21 Ombudsman for Digital Transactions have been appointed with their offices located mostly in state capitals. The addresses and contact details of the offices of the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions is provided under Annex I of the Scheme.

2. Query Whether the guidelines issued on ‘no-frills’ account with 'nil' or very low minimum balances will continue even after the introduction of ‘Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account’? +

Response

No. In supersession of instructions contained in circular RPCD.RF.BC.54/07.38.01/2005-06 dated December 13, 2005 and RPCD.CO.No.RRB.BC.58/03.05.33(F)/2005-06 dated December 27, 2005 on No Frill accounts, banks have now been advised to offer a 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' to all their customers vide RPCD.CO.RRB.RCB.BC.No.24/07.38.01/2012-13 dated August 22, 2012 which will offer minimum common facilities as stated therein. Banks are required to convert the existing 'no-frills' accounts’ into 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts'.